The idea that the Allies specifically targeted women, children, and civilian men is crazy. If this was some sort of goal, it would have continued as the US military entered both Germany and Japan. The fact of the matter is that targeting transportation networks and factories back then usually required nearly 1 thousand bombing sorties before the target was even hit. US firebombing in Japan eventually destroyed area's where Japan was attempting to build its own Atomic Bomb to use against US forces, or even the United States with some unusual delivery methods. Without the firebombing of Japan, you would of had US forces trying to invade the island in 1946 and possibly being exposed to the Japanese use of their own Atom Bomb or at least a dirty bomb.
Allied strategic bombing overall ended the war earlier and saved far more lives than it took. To let what happen on Okinawa happen all over the Japan would have ended Japan forever. Thats what you would have seen with an invasion of the islands. In Germany, without strategic bombing, every city in Germany would have been defended to the degree that Berlin was leading to millions more deaths and casualties.
Oh, and on the question of moral superiority, lets not forget who did what.
Germany, Japan and Italy were the aggressors. Both launched regional wars of aggression that eventually resulted in the deaths of over 60 million people. Germany targeted and exterminated over 6 million people simply because of their Religion. The Japanese military raped most of the women in China and the Pacific Islands that they occuipied, as well as engaging in extermination of any town that resisted their occupation. How about the treatment of US and allied prisoners of War by the Japanese.
Unfortunately, one of the Allies was not much better in its treatment of prisoners and innocent civilians. The Russian military raped nearly every women in Poland west of the vistula river going all the way to the Elbe River in Germany during their advance on the German capital of Berlin in 1945. Yes, several million Polish and German women were brutally gang raped by Soviet soldiers. The Soviets then occupied and installed puppet governments all through eastern Europe enslaving over 80 million people for the next half century.
The United States on the other hand liberated the countries it went through and gave them democracy as opposed to communist dictatorship. In stark contrast to the Soviet military behavior, the US hung or shot by firing squad its own soldiers who were found guilty of rape. An interesting contrast between the Soviet Atheist Regime, the most power and influence any atheist has ever had in history, and the United States which has freedom of religion.
